MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide every child in the world access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression, announced today that the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (NKR) has launched the deployment stage of its New Educational Strategy (NUR) with the distribution of 3,300 XO laptop computers to children and teachers in 16 schools in Stepanakert, Shushi and Karin Tak.
Prime Minister Ara Harutunyan, Minister of Education and Science Vladik Khachatryan, NUR Project Manager Sebastian Arias Duval, and Ashot Ghazaryan, chairman of the Armenian representation council of AGBU, presided over a launch event at the Ashot Ghulyan (Bekor) general education school in Stepanakert.
Welcoming the project organizer and benefactors, Vladik Khachatryan said, "This program will improve the quality of education of elementary school students in the NKR, and what is more important, will make more information available to them and their families. Today, unfortunately, not all districts of NKR have Internet access. The process has started and I am sure that within a short period of time we will be able to establish equal educational opportunities in all NKR.”
NUR Project Manager Sebastian Arias Duval said that the program’s objective is to provide a better level of education to future generations in NKR. "With this powerful tool the students will have the opportunity to forge a better future for themselves and their country. The happiness expressed by these children’s faces confirms what Eduardo Eurnekian, the driving force behind NUR, has noted many times. The world community sees Nagorno-Karabakh within the context of war and regional conflict. People fail to take note of the children who are born and live there. These children are entitled to the universal right of education and access to information.”
“Education is a key factor to breaking the vicious cycle of ethnic hatred and violence for children who live in conflict zones.” said Rodrigo Arboleda, Chairman and CEO of the One Laptop per Child Association. “We applaud the government of Nagorno-Karabakh and its private sector partners for their commitment to improving the quality of children’s education and for investing in a brighter future for society as a whole.”
This is the end of Phase I of the project. Upon conclusion of Phase II, all cities and students in grades 1-4 of NKR will be included in the program.
Currently, all schools where the NUR program is to be implemented have been provided with a Wi Fi network with Internet access.
About One Laptop per Child
One Laptop per Child (OLPC at http://www.laptop.org) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to provide every child in the world access to new channels of learning, sharing and self-expression. In partnership with the public and private sectors and non-governmental organizations and supported by comprehensive implementation and pedagogical services, OLPC seeks to provide each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power connected laptop that empowers individual learning and growth.